By Kevin Greer
Lakeside Communications Manager
It’s been 20 years of “Madness” for John and Bonnie Wilkie.
The youth ministers who launched Middle Grade Madness (MGM) at Lakeside are in their 20th season. The 90-minute program that takes place at 9:30 a.m. Monday-Thursday in Cherry Park, is for kids ages 10-14 who want to discover the relevance of God in their lives, enjoy music, meet new friends and participate in games and activities. Each summer, the Wilkies have a theme with an acronym. This season, it’s “JOY: Jesus, Others and You.”
How it began
John and Bonnie were two of many youth ministers trying to promote themselves and book concerts at a children’s pastors conference in Nashville. There, they met Lakeside rising star Chip Richter, who had started God Squad just a couple years prior. “We got to be buddies real fast,” John said. “We had a few meals together and shared some songs.” Richter invited the Wilkies to visit Lakeside the following summer. They were invited to stay a week, but visited only two days, something John said they regret.
“We said to Chip, ‘This is too good to be true. You’ve got to be kidding,’” John said. “We should have stayed a week like he wanted.”
The following year, the Wilkies rented a cottage for a week. They helped Richter during God Squad and performed some of their “Sprout and Shout” concerts in Sandusky. After seeing Richter at God Squad, the Wilkies offered to serve as substitutes for a week if he wanted to take a vacation. “Mr. Chip” had another idea.
Richter told the Wilkies that Lakeside needed a program for kids after they were too old for God Squad. They got the go-ahead after an interview, so the Wilkies decided to try it for a month to see what kind of response they got. The month became eight weeks and eventually the entire season.
Initially, MGM stood for Middle Grade Ministries, but they decided to change the name a couple years later.
“We did it partially because the word ‘ministry’ can turn some kids off,” Bonnie said. “The program is a ministry and we do have a Bible study, but we do many other fun things.”
The Madness
Prior to meeting Richter, the Wilkies were part of leadership camps for high school students that were highly interactive. They were also schoolteachers near Charlotte, North Carolina, so their experience in the classroom and camps made it an easy transition for them to start MGM.
Bonnie is usually the greeter and helps with signing kids in. Then they do “The Most Exciting Thing in Lakeside,” when kids have eight seconds to describe the most exciting thing they did in Lakeside.
“We had to shorten it to eight seconds,” John said. “It amazes me how chatty they can be, but it’s an opportunity to build their skills.”
They move to a teaching session for about 10 minutes, and then John, a former college football player and high school football coach, has an activity set up. It’s their way of team building.
“We try to get the kids to know each other,” Bonnie said. “There are a lot of times you’ll have a kid who comes and doesn’t know anybody. Part of our goal is for them to connect. Lakeside is a community, and we want to build community within our program.”
The 90 minutes is a mix of learning, music and activities. There are Bible studies and games like dodgeball, kickball, stacking games and bowling with road cones.
“There’s no stopping during the sessions,” John said. “It’s not always the best athletes who win the games. We’ll do anything that is going to make them work together and just have a lot of fun.”
Attendance averages around 25-30 middle schoolers per week and peaks in July at about 40 per day. During July Fourth week, around 50 kids per session is normal. The record is when 56 squeezed into the Upper Room, above Gifts that Give Back on Second Street. On occasion, former MGM participants over the age of 14 stop by to say “hello.” Some are even college students. Most look for their signatures on the logo that kids are asked to sign when attending MGM for the first time.
Taking MGM outside
Through 2019, MGM classes were in the Upper Room, but COVID-19 forced the venue to change to Cherry Park. Everyone wore masks and stood at least six feet apart, but the new location provided a safer environment. The adjustment wasn’t easy, but it’s been very successful. Even with the pandemic in the rear view mirror, MGM is staying outside as long as the weather cooperates.
“It really gives us a nice variety,” John said. “I think ‘hybrid’ is a word that came out of the pandemic. It’s kind of cool to have that.”
Bonnie added, “Being outside isn’t like a classroom where you end up with a dynamic you have most of the year. Here you have a new dynamic every single week.”
Lakesiders have told John and Bonnie that after MGM moved to Cherry Park, their walking routes changed because they enjoy seeing the kids, especially when they’re tossing frisbees, footballs or playing other fun games.
“A lot of people started coming to Lakeside as kids,” John said. “I think they’re happy to see kids having fun at Lakeside.”
Giving back
The last two years, MGM students donated bottle caps for the creation of new benches in Lakeside. They’re in the process of collecting tabs from pop or soup cans for the Ronald McDonald House. They’ve also raised money for mosquito nets called “Sacks of Hope” that are badly needed for refugees in Sudan.
At the season’s first MGM session a couple years ago, 20 students showed up and the Wilkies gave each of them $5. The kids were confused and wondered why they were handed $5. The Wilkies told them it wasn’t theirs to keep, the task was to make the money multiply. By the end of the summer, they raised $2,000 and it went toward water purification systems in poor areas in Latin American and Africa, where people are forced to walk five miles for fresh water. When their containers are filled, they weigh up to 40 pounds.
“Being a part of a community is also giving back to the community,” Bonnie said. “It’s good for kids to have something that they’re connected to that’s outside of themselves.”
John says he and Bonnie appreciate all the positive feedback Lakesiders have given them over the years. They have two simple goals for each participant of MGM.
“We want kids to know Christ and to understand our relationship with Him,” John said. “That’s always our first goal and we will never compromise on that. The secondary goal is connecting the kids and having fun.”
